safety from the rearview

The Education Intern continues her thoughts ~
I was very blessed with the community theatre I grew up in. It was one of those magical things where all the right people came together at exactly the right time and created a place where a rag tag group of teenagers could safely explore their creative outlets. There was this group of about 15-20 of us that were at the theatre all the time, involved in everything we could get our hands on. We took classes together, we TAed (Teaching Assistant) classes together, we put on shows together, and in the end we hung out with each other. Of this group the majority of us still remain friends despite that fact that many went away to various colleges and jobs across the country (and out of the country). These are friendships that have stretched over 10 years and most of them I still consider my closest friends. I truly believe that this is a result of the type of environment we were put in together.
What you must understand is that most likely without the theatre we would not have been friends. Not just because we went to different high schools, but because if we had gone to the same high school we probably would not have associated with each other. My teachers and mentors at this theatre created an environment where none of us felt like we were in a popularity contest, we all felt like we had something valid to contribute to the group. We reveled in our differences. This was an environment where I was allowed to gape in awe at the kids who were montessori students, who were vastly more globably aware than I was and just had so much more knowledge than I did about what was going on in the world. These were the kids that held interesting discussions when they were in elementary school the day the Berlin Wall came down. I did not have to hide my zealousness to share in their knowledge. This was a place where the popular girl, the cheerleader type, could come and not be afraid to show her intelligence and not be judged because she had interests other than theatre. This was the place where the Irish catholic family came and invaded and taught us more about religion and philosophy than any class I have ever taken. This was where the gays and the lesbians came and weren’t afraid to be out. This is where the gang affiliated former striper came and was never judged. We came together and took joy and interest in our differences and reveled in the one thing that we all had in common. We all felt like outsiders. All teenagers feel like outsiders, but not here. Here we were on the inside. And the inside was a world we made together.
It was because of my teachers that we were able to feel this way. And it was because of this that I became passionate about teaching. I want to give this to other kids. I want everyone who desires it to be able to have this experience. It’s not about being famous (I discovered my passion and talent for teaching before I discovered I had chops as a performer), it’s about learning that the diversity around you is the biggest tool, the biggest key, the biggest gift you can be given. These things truly are life skills. I want to give teenagers a safe place to come, where they can – not just learn the skills needed to do theatre – be themselves. Where they can feel safe enough to be who they are; which, at that age, is probably the hardest thing they’ll ever have to do.
And I realized a while ago that this is not just important for your average teenager that feels like a freak. It’s even more important to the high risk kids. Think what theatre outreach could do if we could create this environment in the scariest schools, in the scariest neighborhoods, the neighborhoods where people are less worried about the arts surviving and more worried about their children surviving. Yes I am young and idealistic, but . . . just think about it . . . we could change the world.
Theatre should work for social change. The theatre was created at the same time and right next door to democracy. It was created to point out to everyone what it is like to walk in another person’s shoes. To the lowliest plebian to the greatest senator – if we could all just take a minute to see the choices that these people are faced with maybe we would understand more about how the world works, and would let this understanding inform our own choices. I believe that theatre, at its heart, should always be for enlightenment. I think that theatre education is an even more powerful weapon in the social change arsenal. Not just because we can create with these kids powerful theatre, but because coming together as a group in the name of the theatre can change these kids. And through them, the world.
I know, I know, idealistic dribble. But it’s what I believe. And it all has to do with the question. That question still being: How do you create a safe environment? Once again, more ideas on this later.
~ Laura (Roux)